Washington (CNN) – Defying virtually all political analysis, the No. 2 House Democrat said his party has "a good shot" at winning enough seats in November to regain control of the House of Representatives.

Maryland Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer made a similar prediction in February, but no veteran political observers believe the House Democrats are in a position to pick up the 17 seats they would need to win back the chamber. In fact most national observers believe Republicans will keep or slightly expand the 234 GOP seat majority they hold now in the House.

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton, throughout much of her book tour, has made bold claims comparing the Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton economies.

Last week, Clinton stepped up those claims in an interview with Charlie Rose when she asserted “if I just were to compare Reagan's eight years with Bill's eight years, it's like night and day in terms of the effects, the number of jobs that were created, the number of people lifted out of poverty 100 times more when Bill was president. And did policies have something to do with that? I would argue that they did.”

CNN’s POLITICAL GUT CHECK | for July 23, 2014 | 5 p.m.
— n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

ON CNN… BLOOMBERG SAYS FLIGHT BAN REWARDS HAMAS …Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a combative interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in Israel, said he was there “to show support for Israel's right to defend itself" and to underscore, in his opinion, that U.S. flight restrictions there are a mistake that only helps Hamas.FULL POST

(CNN) - Hoping to spur more Republican support, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole returned to the U.S. Capitol to urge ratification of a global disability rights treaty.

The one-time Kansas GOP lawmaker, who had two stints leading the chamber before resigning to run for president in 1996, joined veterans and rights groups at a news conference on Wednesday on the U.N. measure.

(CNN) - The general election race for Georgia's open U.S. Senate seat is kicking into high gear now that the GOP has a nominee.

"Michelle Nunn: Perfect for Obama. Wrong for Georgia," says the narrator in TV commercial by the Ending Spending Action Fund, a conservative outside group that's been very critical of the new health care law.

Washington (CNN) – Citing a “growing intolerance” against opponents of same-sex marriage, Sen. Marco Rubio argued that those who advocate same-sex marriage need to be more respectful of those who oppose it.

“Supporting the definition of marriage as one man and one woman is not anti-gay. It's pro-traditional marriage,” the Florida Republican said in a speech at Catholic University. “And if support for traditional marriage is bigotry, then Barack Obama was a bigot until just before the 2012 election.”

(CNN) - A citizen-led petition to place legalization of recreational marijuana on the November ballot in Oregon obtained enough signatures, making the Beaver State the next place pot could be legally sold, bought and consumed.

More than 88,500 people signed the petition, enough to place the initiative before voters on November 4.